Letter to the White House

We are thrilled and honored to be included in the discussion of LGBTQ community engagement as part of the EPA’s Clean Power Plan. Our organization, Out for Sustainability, is uniquely positioned to address this challenge. It is our mission to engage and mobilize the LGBTQ community for environmental and social action. Our work brings together members of the LGBTQ community who are professionals in various environmental fields, as well as LGBTQ social and cultural organizations to inspire local action with the goal of enacting positive global change. Our four strategic areas of focus:

Communications: We recognize the inherent capacity of the LGBTQ community to imagine and advocate for change. Our strategy reflects a belief that our shared experiences of social inequality contributes to inform environmental justice. We engage the public with proactive messaging that creating change is not only possible, but it can also be “sexy, fun and cool.”

Advocacy: We continually generate content that is driving discussion on the intersections of the LGBTQ community, social justice and the environmental movement, with topics ranging from local food systems to transgender healthcare to the changing role of the gayborhood. We’ve also found success with our Fab Planet Summit, the first and only LGBTQ-focused conference on the intersection of environment, society and identity. Podcasts from the sessions have brought the message to a wider audience. The next Fab Planet is slated for San Francisco, California in 2016.

Service: We bring the LGBTQ community together for “Earth Gay” service projects that are designed to create a safe space for LGBTQ people to express their sustainability values while publicly demonstrating the environmental responsibility of the LGBTQ community.

Advancement: We are building a model for others in our network of fellow LGBTQ sustainability champions to launch initiatives and chapters throughout the United States and around the world.

We appreciate the White House for considering Out for Sustainability a leader in the LGBTQ community, and hope to be a partner in organizing action for LGBTQ sustainable activism. Considering the barriers for traditionally marginalized groups to participate in the environmental movement, we’d love to support your efforts to identify leaders, shape messaging and otherwise mobilize the LGBTQ community to address the challenges of climate change. Please let us know when another call or meeting might be possible to discuss this opportunity in greater depth.